Radford University
Graduate Catalog
for 1999-2000

CORPORATE AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

William R. Kennan, Chairperson

Gwen Brown, Graduate Program Coordinator

Graduate Faculty
Gwen Brown, Tom J. Bruneau, Michael W. Cronin, David Dobkins, Bruce Dorries, George L. Grice, Vincent Hazleton, William R. Kennan

GRADUATE PROGRAM

The Master of Science degree in Corporate and Professional Communication is an applied degree designed to prepare students for a variety of careers in the public and private sector. Students will be prepared to seek careers as communication professionals in human services and in management positions, as public relations specialists, and as training/development coordinators. Graduates of our program demonstrate the broad range of career possibilities. For example, our graduates currently hold positions in fields as diverse as health care, public relations, computer software, media, higher education, non-profit services, and government. Additionally, students are prepared to pursue doctoral degrees. The degree provides a foundation of course work in both internal and external organizational communication and also allows students to focus their studies in their specific areas of interest.
(For more information, follow the link above to the department's Home Page.)

ADMISSION INFORMATION

The basic requirements for graduate study at Radford University are given in this catalog. General requirements and procedures for the Master of Science in Corporate and Professional Communication follow. Detailed requirements and procedures for the degree may be found in the Corporate and Professional Communication Graduate Student Handbook.

In those cases where program requirements and procedures are more stringent than those of the Graduate College, the requirements and procedures of the program take precedence. It will be assumed that students are thoroughly familiar with the requirements and procedures stated in the above documents. The ultimate responsibility for meeting all stated degree requirements rests with the student. The dean and staff of the Graduate College, the Graduate Program Coordinator, and the graduate faculty are all available to guide, advise, help interpret policies and otherwise assist the student in meeting degree requirements.

Application materials provide a variety of information about an applicant's skills, talents, background, experiences, career goals, motivation, commitment and potential for successful completion of the program. The Corporate and Professional Communication admissions committee will view each applicant's admission file as an integrated package. No single item of information will be used to reject any applicant. The application information enables the committee to select a class of entering graduate students who individually and collectively have the potential to make substantial contributions to the professional and intellectual environment of the program, university, and field. Admission is competitive.

The following application procedures are required:

• Complete and submit the Graduate College Application for Graduate Admission form, including official copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts. This requirement applies even if an applicant has not yet completed an undergraduate degree.
• Take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude Test and include exam scores with the application. Test scores more than five years old will not be accepted. Subject tests offered by the Educational Testing Service are not required. No other exams or tests may be substituted for the GRE Aptitude Test.
• Provide at least three recent letters of reference.
• Write a short essay (typed, double-spaced, and limited to three pages in length) addressing the following issues:
  a. Upon what past experiences and interests do you base your present decision to apply to this graduate program?
  b. How does study for the M.S. in this program fit in with your short- and long-term goals and career aspirations?
  c. Is there any other information, not covered elsewhere in your application, that you would like to share with the program's graduate admissions committee?
• Applicants whose native language is not English must also take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and submit scores as part of their application materials.

All of the above application materials should be sent to:

Applicants to the graduate program are normally admitted for the fall semester; however, admission may be granted for the spring semester. An applicant who is applying for admission for the fall semester should have his or her application file completed by February 1. An applicant who is applying for admission for the spring semester should have his or her application file completed by September 15. Please note that these deadlines may vary from those required by the Graduate College.

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP INFORMATION

Graduate assistantships are available for the program in Corporate and Professional Communication. Because the degree focuses on the education and training of communication professionals and because those communication professionals may well be called upon to educate and train others in the workplace or the classroom, the primary duties of most graduate assistants involve teaching. A limited number of research assistantships may also be available.

The Corporate and Professional Communication faculty believe that all graduate assistants who teach should be provided with the best preparation possible for educating others. Thus, all teaching assistants are provided with a semester of training and practice under a designated mentor before those assistants are assigned teaching responsibilities. Typically, graduate assistants who complete their semester of training are assigned to work with the mentor in teaching communication courses. Before assuming any teaching duties, however, students must be approved for teaching assignments by the graduate faculty and the teaching mentor.

Applicants for admission who also wish to be considered for a Graduate Assistantship should write a letter to that effect addressed to:

Letters requesting consideration for a Graduate Assistantship for the fall semester must be received by February 1. Letters requesting consideration for a Graduate Assistantship for the spring semester must be received by September 15. All Graduate Assistantships are competitive.

OPTIONS

There are two options in the degree program: a non-thesis option and a thesis option. Students graduating under the non-thesis option must successfully complete thirty hours of course work and a comprehensive examination. Students graduating under the thesis option must successfully complete 24 hours of course work, apply for and complete a thesis for six hours of credit, and successfully complete an oral defense of the thesis. Please refer to Final Comprehensive Examination.

Program Requirements - 30 hrs.

Required Courses - 15 hrs.
All students must successfully complete the following core courses:

COMM 600. Communication Theory. - 3
COMM 605. Applied Communication Research. - 3
COMM 610. Seminar in Organizational Communication. - 3
COMM 615. Seminar in Public Relations. - 3
COMM 620. Training and Development. - 3

Non-Thesis Option - 15 hrs.
Electives, approved by Graduate Coordinator. - 15

Thesis Option - 15 hrs.
COMM 699, Research and Thesis. - 6
Electives, approved by Graduate Coordinator. - 9

Because some students may not have completed an undergraduate degree in communication, other factors may be taken into consideration when assessing potential. For example, sufficient experience in a communication-related profession will be taken into consideration when assessing a student's potential. Students lacking a sufficient background in communication (as judged by the admissions committee) may be required, prior to enrollment in graduate courses, to take one or more undergraduate courses to provide the necessary foundation for graduate study in communication. These courses may not be counted as a portion of the 30 hours required to complete the degree.

CORPORATE AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION COURSES

No more than 20 percent of a graduate student's program (6 credits) may be in the 500-level courses described below. Enrollment in 500-level courses for graduate credit requires upper division or graduate standing. Courses numbered 600 and above are for graduate students only.

COMM 506. Communication Skills Tutoring. (3)
Three hours lecture/participation.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Principles and methods of training clients in the improvement of communication skills in such areas as public speaking, group discussion and listening. Applied component of the course provides supervised consultation and tutoring experience.

COMM 508. Public Relations Case Studies. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Case studies and typical public relations problems in industry, labor, education, government, social welfare, and trade associations. Planning and preparation of communication materials for various media; applications of public relations techniques.

COMM 513. Political Communication. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Contemporary theories and practices of political communication. Examines the structure and function of political messages, the strategic dissemination of political messages, and the effects of those messages on corporate, social, professional, and cultural institutions.

COMM 539. Leadership and Group Communication. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Analysis of major theory and research in leadership and group communication techniques with primary emphasis on developing communication skills in small group interaction. Through discussions and participation in group activities, students explore identification and evaluation of leadership techniques, communication networks, leadership training, research needs, and methodologies of group observation.

COMM 540. Listening and Nonverbal Communication. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Emphasis on theoretical and practical considerations of human awareness and attention, perception and reception of auditory, visual, and nonverbal codifications; processing, reception and representation of the spoken word (psycholinguistics), image formation, and visualization, as well as other semiotic processes such as kinesics, proxemics, paralinguistics, haptics, chronemics, etc. Explores audience reception in personal as well as mediated contexts in terms of recent developments in brain/main research and theory.

COMM 548. Intercultural and International Communication. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Advanced study of the processes, problems and theory of intercultural and international communication in interpersonal, group, organizational, and mediated contexts.

COMM 558. Gendered Communication. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
This course concerns the development of knowledge and skills about gender and communication. It includes such topical areas as biographical, perceptual, psychological, social, and mass-mediated communication.

COMM 559. Communication in Conflict Management. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion/field experience.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
This course addresses the nature of conflict between people as it is manifested in communicative interaction in varied contexts, within individuals, between individuals, between groups and between organizational and social entities. It deals with both competitive and, especially, cooperative communication genres as well as strategies of conflict intervention and mediation.

COMM 561. Communication Techniques for Countering Job Burnout. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
Study of individual, group, and organizational methods of ameliorating or preventing job burnout through effective communication.

COMM 565. Communication and Health Care. (3)
Three hours lecture/discussion.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission.
A survey of research findings and theoretic models relevant to communication practices and health care at the interpersonal, group, organizational, and social levels.

COMM 600. Communication Theory. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
An overview of the history and theory of the discipline of communication, including epistemological, ontological, and axiological positions driving theoretic models. This course provides background and foundation for the study of corporate and professional communication.

COMM 605. Applied Communication Research. (3)
Three hours seminar/research.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Research methods and reporting procedures in communication research. Understanding reporting procedures and a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

COMM 610. Seminar in Organizational Communication. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Detailed study of theoretical and applied literature in organizational communication focusing on modern organizations. Topics for discussion include: the nature of communication in conceptualizing modern organizations, micro perspectives (interpersonal, group, public, and technological contexts), macro perspectives (classical theory, human relations theory, feminist theory, cultural theory, systems theory, TQM models, quality circles, etc.), communication networks, communication auditing, organizational change, and the role of the professional communicator.

COMM 611. Communication Law and Ethics. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Survey of the legal and ethical constraints placed upon the content, form, and transmission of messages in a variety of contexts related to personal, political, business, and corporate life.

COMM 615. Seminar in Public Relations. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Examination of the public relations profession and application of theoretical and research literature in public relations. Topics for discussion include: the public relations industry, role of public relations in organizations and society, public relations ethics, public relations roles, public relations strategies, and contemporary theories of public relations.

COMM 620. Training and Development. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and COMM 605 or Instructor's permission.
This course provides an overview of the communication skills important in contemporary organizations, and of the theoretic and practical concerns inherent in the assessment of communication needs within organizations, the provision of communication training and development, and the assessment of outcomes. These processes are viewed from the perspective of internal organizational function, as well as from that of external consultants.

COMM 625. Issues Management. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The study of distinctive advocacy roles, relationships, and strategies to maintain mutual lines of communication between various types of organizations and their publics including research and analysis of problems and issues, preparation and planning of appropriate action, development and implementation of effective communication, and systematic evaluation.

COMM 630. Communication, Change, and Innovation. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The study of organizational change and innovation as a fundamental and recurrent series of events rooted in and dependent upon complex communication processes.

COMM 635. Contemporary Issues in Corporate and Professional Communication. (3)
Three hours seminar.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Study of current issues in corporate and professional communication. Topics to be announced. May be repeated under different topics.

COMM 640. Internship in Corporate and Professional Communication. (3)
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of the supervising instructor and permission of the Graduate Coordinator.
An opportunity for practical application of communication theory to practical contexts. Requires a written proposal.

COMM 698. Directed Study. (3)
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of the instructor and the Graduate Coordinator.
Provides the opportunity for individual work with a faculty member in areas of mutual interest. May be repeated for a maximum of six hours of credit to count toward the degree (non-thesis option). See Directed Study.

COMM 699. Research and Thesis. (6)
Prerequisites: Approval of student's thesis proposal by the student's thesis committee and by the dean of the Graduate College.
Research project completed and reported by a thesis student in his or her area of interest.
See Thesis.

Return to RU Graduate Catalog Table of Contents

[RU Home Page] [RU Graduate College]

Page URL: http://www.runet.edu/gradcatalog/courses/corpcom.html

RU EO Statement
RU Web Administrators

Radford University